Hillmen Cup Hopes Ended

Glossop’s last chance of Cup glory came to an end on Tuesday as Belper advanced to the Derbyshire Senior Cup semi final. As with other cup defeats this season, The Hillmen were left scratching their heads as to how they lost the tie, given that they could have been out of sight by half time.

As it was, the woodwork, a clearance off the line and a couple of terrific saves meant that the score at the break was goalless, Glossop North End having protected stand-in keeper Ben Richardson well by dominating possession and putting heavy pressure on the visitors.

Ten minutes into the second half Kieran Lugsden was hauled down in the box and Jamie Rainford despatched the spot kick. It was assumed that The Hillmen would go on and win from there, but shortly afterwards a foul in the Glossop box saw Belper awarded a penalty of their own, that was also netted.

Worse was to come, Alex Steadman got his second just three minutes later when played in on the angle. His shot from the right side was low and powerful, and somehow wriggled through the dive of Luke Pilling – now restored in goal after finally beating improbably heavy traffic – and into the net.

There was still 25 minutes for Glossop North End to change the game, but Belper defended well, restricting the home side to only half chances that weren’t taken. They leave Glossop concentrating on the league, and a glance at the table shows that this is by no means a season-ending defeat.